King's 5 things: How good are the Bronchos?

I was a freshman at Indiana State University on Sept. 11, 2001. I still vividly remember being in the shower and having my roommate yell to tell me "everything's blowing up." I remember going to my 9:30 class to see a sign on the door saying "Go home and watch the news" and going to my next class where the professor said he was aware that something was happening in New York, but that it didn't merit missing class for. I twice since have visited the grounds where the twin towers once stood, still seeing remnants scattered 31 months later when I went to New York City for the first time in March 2004. When I returned in August 2008, construction had begun on a memorial.

The undefeated: With West Lafayette's loss Saturday to Crete-Monee (Ill.), it leaves four undefeated teams in the Journal & Courier coverage area: Rensselaer, Fountain Central, Attica and the Lafayette Jeff Bronchos.

I've already seen Jeff three times (and likely will see them the next two Fridays against Kokomo and Marion) and they're good. Like really good. But not four quarters good.

"We're 4-0 and we haven't played our best football yet," quarterback Mathew Wilkerson said after Saturday's 49-39 win over Harrison.

The Bronchos were a slow-starting team in their first three games, then turned it on in the second half. On Saturday, Jeff came out on fire, but looked drastically different in the second half. with miscues that kept Harrison alive.

I included the Bronchos on my Associated Press ballot for the first time this week, ranking them 10th in 6A. The teams in Jeff's sectional are tough, but if they can play all four quarters like they played the first two Saturday, they'll belong in the discussion.

Karlaftis offer count: If you didn't see, West Lafayette junior defensive end George Karlaftis received a scholarship offer from Penn State over the weekend. He owns quite a list of suitors. By my count, Penn State is his 12th offer.

Here are the others: Louisville, Tennessee, Michigan, Miami, Alabama, Notre Dame, Western Michigan, Toledo, Southern Methodist, Indiana and Purdue. Needless to say, if the local kid were to choose the Boilermakers, it would be their biggest recruiting score in quite awhile.

On campus: What Marian University has built in a relatively short time period on the football field is impressive. Even more impressive is the mass amount of area kids the Knights have brought in who have helped develop a national powerhouse in NAIA. In Saturday's 49-28 win over Robert Morris, former West Lafayette standout Maurice Woodard had a bulldozing 20-yard touchdown run and finished with 72 yards on 11 carries. Carroll product Brandon Dillon caught five passes for 85 yards, including a 14-yard score. Carroll's Jarin Bush also is a Marian offensive lineman. Julius Gibbs (Lafayette Jeff) and Sam Milazzo (Central Catholic) are freshmen.

Recommended reading: Because all Purdue fans have been looking for something to cheer about during football season for some time, check out Mike Carmin's look at what we know and what we don't about the Boilermakers through two games. Lots of positives.

Happy Monday, everyone.

Sam King is a high school sports reporter for the Journal & Courier. He can be reached at sking@journalandcourier.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking, on SnapChat: samtking or on Facebook.